The Catholic Standard and Times

Lady of Lavang has ties to Philly

By Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent

She appeared to a small group of persecuted Catholics, who were hiding in the woods of Lavang in Central Vietnam, in 1798.

While they huddled together, clutching their rosaries, the Blessed Mother hovered above them with the infant Jesus in her arms. She soothed them in their distress, and promised to bless anyone who came there to pray.

Hundreds of years later, thousands still come every year to the sacred spot — which is now marked with a magnificent basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Lavang.

And very soon, the Vietnamese Catholic community will share their beloved Lady with the world.

The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., recently approved the design for a new chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lavang, which they hope to complete by the end of 2006.

The project began in 1999 when Bishop Dominic Mai Thanh Luongwas serving as the liaison between the Bishops of the United States and the Vietnamese people. He began to gather information for a shrine, then gave the project to the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics in the USA in 2001. After two more years of effort, the Federation asked Father Peter Quinn, pastor of St. Alice’s Parish in Upper Darby, to take over as director of the project.

Father Quinn sent out more than 300 letters to priests, deacons, artists and experts, askinng for their suggestions and ideas for the project.

“It was very hard to get everyone together on this,” he said. “But I wanted this to be a consensus. Iwanted this to be done democratically. It must be the peoples’ idea — not my idea.”

When the responses came back, he found he had 48 viable suggestions.

With the help of Thinh The Lam, a parishioner from nearby St. Barnabas who is gifted in interior design, he began to consider the various designs.

“We would build models right in his living room,” Father Quinn said. “But it was hard, because there was so much meaning to put into a space only nine-feet by 30-feet by 12-feet high. It’s no bigger than the living room of a family’s house, and everything had to fit in there.”

Once they settled on a design, they sought the help of designer Louis R. DiCocca III of the St. Jude Liturgical Art Studio in Havertown. He put it all together in an appropriate design for the National Basilica.

Viewing the final design is like looking through a window into the soul of Catholic Vietnam.

First, there is the statue of Our Lady of Lavang, which will be created out of several different kinds of marble by Italian sculptor Franco Dolfi.

“This is an old-world, old-style way of carving a statue,” DiCocco said. “This is a very unique statue that is also very unique to the Basilica. ... They don’t have anything like this. It’s a lost art to do these kinds of pieces.”

Our Lady of Lavang’s brilliant blue robe will be fashioned out of a special blue marble the artist will import from Argentina. The red dress worn by the infant Jesus will be of red marble found in Carrera, a town in northern Italy. The black hair will be made of oriental, jet-black marble, and the flesh tones of the face, hands and feet will be sculpted from Portuguese rose marble. Only the trim on Mary’s cape and crown will be painted with gold leaf.

Suspended behind Our Lady’s statue, on the back wall, will be a raised star-burst mosaic with 12 stars in 14-karat-gold tile, representing Mary’s title, “Mother of the Messiah.”

In front of the statue will be the altar, which will also be made of multi-colored marble. It will have a cross with a circle around it on the front panel; the circlerepresents heaven to the Vietnamese people, and the cross the means by which they achieve heaven.

The floor — made of inlaid marble — will have as its centerpiece the ancient drum symbol, which represents the “civilization and pride of Vietnam,” Father Quinn said. A continuous Oriental pattern will outline the floor, representing the continuing path to God.

Two Venetian mosaics will flank the room. On the right wall will be amosaic of the “Martyrs of Vietnam.” Two bronze plaques will be mounted with the mosaic, one listing the history, chronological events and dates associated with the martyrs and the other listing their names.

In the design, even the ceiling has meaning. The sky-blue mosaic will feature the Big Bear and Little Bear (Big and Little Dipper) because the Vietnamese boat people who fled religious persecution believed Our Lady used the stars to guide them to freedom. [See related story about a Philadelphia priest who escaped persecution in that fashion.]

Twenty-four stars, fashioned in a golden mosaic, will hover above the altar, each representing an hour of the day that Our Lady is with her people.

The design was accepted by the Iconography committee at the National Shrine, which is headed by His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali. On November 14, 2004, the Board of Trustees gave it their stamp of approval.

There is still much more work ahead, particularly in regard to the statue; several models will be made and sent to the Basilica committee and the Vietnamese community for consideration before the actual sculpting begins. The shrine is not expected to be completed before August 2006.

But Father Quinn will never tire of the project. His heart is invested in the work.

“I do this in thanksgiving to the Blessed Mother,” he said. “Years ago, I had a serious speech impediment and I almost lost my vocation over it.”

He said it was a problem that developed when he was a teenager, and it followed him into the seminary.

“I stuttered and could not say Mass,” he said. “Until three years after my ordination, I wanted to quit, because every Mass I said was a burden for me.
“‘The priesthood is so precious, it is for somebody else,’ I thought. ‘Not for a little man like myself, who cannot speak in public.’”

But his spiritual director believed he had a vocation, and said God would give him a sign. For three years, he lived with his doubts while he waited for that sign.

“One day, I said to the Lord, ‘If it is true that you need me, then you have to do something so that I can say Mass.’ From that time on, I could speak without trouble. It is a miracle for me,” Father Quinn said. “That was in 1978.”

When he took on the project for the shrine of Our Lady of Lavang, Father Quinn knew it was going to be hard work, he said.

“It took a lot of time, a lot of energy. But I wanted to do this to thank God for His kindness because He saved my life as a priest,” he said. “So now I do everything for Him.”

Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615